Google's Project Vault is a tiny computer for sending secret messages

Google on Tuesday showed off what has to be one of the smallest
computers ever: Project Vault.

This is a full computer packed onto a micoSD card, those tiny
cards typically used to add extra memory to your smartphone or
digital camera.

And that means it can slip into the MicroSD slot of your
smartphone or PC. It's main function: to encrypt your
communications so snoops — be they hackers or the NSA — can't
eavesdrop. Such secret communication requires both phones to be
using a Project Vault device, according to a demo showed on stage
at the
Google I/O developers' conference happening this week in San
Francisco.

Google says the device can also be used to encrypt video and as
an alternative for passwords. It released a software-development
kit for Vault, asking developer attendees to get creative and
build apps for it.

While it one day might be of interest to consumers, Google says
it aiming it first at business users. A lot of industries, from
health care to finance, are required to encrypt and secure their
communications.

Even though Project Vault is the size and shape of a tiny memory
card, it has an ARM-based processor, wireless communications (in
this case, NFC) and an antenna.